Lithium Flowers
by Beijing Express
Summary: Roxas had no idea that he would be dragging a mentally challenged girl around town for his community service over the summer. And the idea of falling in love with her had never occurred once in his mind, either. ...Or had it? NAMIXAS.
1. The Girl Who Acts Like She's Five

**.:Lithium Flowers:.**

_By: Nietono-no-Shana_

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**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything related to Kingdom Hearts, or any other branded items.

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_**Chapter One: The Girl Who Acts Like She's Five**_

Roxas hated hospitals. He hated the smell of disinfectant wipes in every corner. Not to mention the depressing fluorescent lights above. If there was one thing he knew for sure, he wouldn't go to medical school.

Now, as he and his mother were driving towards the gloomy public hospital, he slumped further and further into his seat.

His mother, Chigusa, noticed her son's behavior and questioned it as soon as she stopped for the next red light. Putting her foot on the brake, she turned to look at her bored son.

"Oh cheer up, Roku," his mother encouraged. (He hated how she still called him "Roku", since that was such a babyish name!) "Your brother Cloud did this, too,"

"But Cloud's different than me," he snapped, avoiding his mother's gaze. Instead, he rolled down the window and looked outside. "And besides, I would've done the community service with Hayner."

"And when exactly would you be doing this 'community service' with Hayner?"

Roxas thought about this before answering. "Eh, maybe senior year."

"Senior year is too late, Roku. You don't want colleges to think you're a procrastinator, right? Besides, it'll make your college application look better if you start volunteering earlier."

Other than hospitals, Roxas also hated his mother for being so persistent. Unlike Hayner's mom, who was laid back, his mother was a complete control freak. Then again, it wasn't her fault since she had to deal with mentally challenged kids everyday. And also had a son who got accepted to Harvard University. It doesn't take a genius to know that his mother would want the same kind of excellence from the next son. But as for the other son's progress…

Well, he was working on it.

Roxas shuddered as the car came to an abrupt stop; his mother had bumped the sidewalk's curb by accident. Rolling the window back up, he opened the car's door and stepped out to face the smeared walls of the hospital. He trailed behind his mother as the automatic doors swished open to reveal the depressing lobby, which, of course, smelt like disinfectant; his most despised fragrance.

"Ah, Chigusa! It's great to see you're back!"

"Yes," his mother said, giving a polite nod. "I'm here to pick up our patient?"

"Please, go ahead," The woman who was at the desk leaned over to get a look at her son. "And who might I ask is this?" she asked, staring at Roxas.

"This is my son, Roxas."

"Time sure does fly! If I didn't know better, I'd say he was Cloud!"

His mother, being reminded of her perfect older son, laughed out of courtesy. In this quiet hamlet of Twilight Town, she was proud to have the most successful young man around.

Inside his head, Roxas felt like flipping the woman off, but decided to cast the thought aside. He hated it when his mother didn't interject to say that Roxas was another person. She always went along with compliments that reminded her of Cloud. Heck, if he were his mom, he'd probably do the same. But, since he wasn't, he had the right to be mad.

As his mother and the secretary started to get off topic, Roxas decided to wander off and roam around the lobby. There wasn't anything better to do, anyway.

Everything looked as it should: serious adults seated on the stained couches reading magazines; little kids playing with germinated toys in the playpen; the outcries of babies; and of course, the old geezers rocking back and forth in chairs.

Just when he was about to pick up the latest copy of _Sports Illustrated_, his mother called for him in her paranoid voice. She always freaked out whenever Roxas trailed off somewhere that wasn't in her range of sight. When he was three, it didn't really matter, but now that he was fifteen (going on sixteen) it was just plain embarrassing.

"I'm here, mom," Roxas called out in a loud voice.

His mother instantly turned towards answer and loosened her stiffened shoulders. She let out a deep sigh of relief as Roxas tossed the magazine back onto the table and walked back to her.

"Where _were_ you?" she asked.

Roxas nodded behind him, where all the other patients were sitting.

"Don't do that again," she sighed, making sure that the secretary knew that she was trying to control her child.

But deep down, she knew Roxas would do it again.

"Your patient is waiting for you on floor 3," the secretary said, pointing over towards the elevator. She looked at Roxas again and gave him one of those fake smiles only adults could make. "Volunteering will be fun, huh?"

"Sure," he said through a forced smile.

His mother interrupted this small question with a distracting laugh and pushed her son gently towards the elevators. After saying a short good-bye she pressed the elevator's button and waited for it to come down.

"Roku, why can't you be more polite?" she asked as they waited in silence.

"What do you mean? I smiled like I'm told."

His mother merely blinked at him with surprise.

"Smiling comes naturally, honey. Don't force a smile if you don't want to."

If that were the case, then he'd be giving cold glares and sarcastic looks to just about anyone.

The elevator made a beeping noise, and after waiting three minutes for a wheel-chaired senior to get out, both him and his mother got on.

Roxas could've sworn that the senior had passed gas in the elevator, because he couldn't help but gag and cover his nose with his vest's collar. His mother, completely disappointed in her son's behavior, shook her head in dismay. She was probably thinking what Cloud would've done in this situation. And the answer was simple: he would've done nothing. He would've just endured it, like everything else he did.

Once the elevator made the same beeping noise, Roxas dashed out of the elevator and took a huge gasp of air, even though he was inhaling that awful disinfectant smell. After he recovered from that horrible smell, he followed his mother across the narrow hallway, taking notice of a blind woman feeling around the tiles with her cane.

Again, there was another hallway and another secretary that Chigusa knew.

"Oh, she's just around the corner," the woman said, pointing his mother towards a secluded door. "She's been such an angel lately."

"That's wonderful news," his mother exclaimed. "I'm glad to see that she's making progress."

Wondering what his mother was saying, he followed her as she opened the narrow white door. And inside this small, claustrophobic room was a girl sitting atop a stretcher.

Her back was arched forward, furiously scribbling lines onto a pad of paper. Engrossed in her writing, a piece of her bright blonde hair fell to one side of her shoulder. Across from where she was sitting was a small TV, which was currently on the game-show channel. It was turned to a low volume, so he didn't realize that Wheel of Munny was on until he and his mother stepped inside.

"Hello Namine," his mother said to the girl. She slowly walked over to the girl's beside and sat beside her. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

There was no reply from the girl, and her blue eyes continued to stare down at her piece of paper. It was like she didn't even notice that Chigusa was there.

Estranged by this matter, Roxas decided to stand next to the small TV, watching one of the challengers hit a BANKRUPT section of the wheel.

"Roxas," his mother called. "Why don't you say 'hi' to Namine?"

Roxas turned his attention to the scrawny girl beside his mother. He blinked down at her twice, expecting _her_ to look up at _him_.

…But she kept on drawing.

"Roxas," his mother repeated, though in a more harsh tone, "I said why don't you say 'hi' to Namine?"

"Hi," he said plainly.

He was expecting her to look up, or perhaps even a nod to acknowledge that he was there.

But she didn't do anything.

Nothing.

"I bet Namine's just being shy," the doctor, (who had miraculously appeared in the doorway), said. "She's always like this whenever a stranger comes into her room."

_Sorry if I'm intruding on your 'space',_ Roxas thought to himself, turning to look back at the game show. Though, it wasn't much of a 'space'…

"Roku," his mother called. Her alert senses had already observed her son's straying attention. "Why don't you say 'hello' to our doctor?"

"Oh, hello," he said, though he didn't bother to make eye contact with him.

His mother pursed her lips out of annoyance. She would have to talk with her son once the doctor left.

"Well, I think we're all settled with taking her out," the doctor said as he glanced down at his clipboard. "All the medications and supplies are waiting for you outside the office."

"That's wonderful!" his mother exclaimed. She looked back down at Namine, who still hadn't taken any interest in the conversation. "Aren't you happy, Namine?"

Again, there was no reply.

"Just be sure to check out with our secretary," Miwasaki said as he turned to leave.

Once he left, the room had turned silent again, and the TV was the only thing making noise.

"So what's wrong with her?" Roxas asked bluntly.

"Roku, don't be so mean," she scolded. "You should be thankful you don't have problems." His mother turned to look back down at what Namine was drawing.

"Namine has a mental illness," Chigusa explained. "She can't communicate her emotions very well and occasionally throws sudden outbursts."

Roxas gave another glance at the frail girl. He found it hard to believe that such a quiet girl had the ability to throw stuff around.

"I thought it would be a good idea that you helped take care of her," his mother said. "It's considered community service, right, Namine?" She put an arm around Namine.

As a response, she let her pencil drop from her hands and shriveled up by pulling her shoulders closer to her body.

It seemed somebody didn't liked to be touched.

Chigusa instantly let go of her grip, since she didn't want Namine to feel in danger. "Perhaps she's just cranky," his mother mused.

…Or maybe she knew that she was being taken away from this place she knew so well.

"I'll go get the medications," his mother said as she stood up from the girl's bedside. "Just wait here until I get back. It'll only be a few seconds."

Once his mother left, the room fell silent again. The only sound was the TV's applause from the audience.

"Man, what a _hell_ of a time I'm gonna have," he said sarcastically.

Namine, who had resumed drawing, stopped again and stiffened at Roxas's words.

"Bad words. Those bad words. Nami doesn't like bad words. No, no, bad words bad."

"What the hell?" Roxas said, turning to look at her.

"No, no, bad words, bad words! Nami doesn't like bad words. Bad words bad, bad words bad."

She started rocking back and forth on her bed, whispering and repeating incomprehensible words. Her voice was so soft, and was barely audible.

"Bad, bad, bad. Bad words. No, bad words, no. Bad, bad, words bad, words, words, bad…"

"What's your problem?" Roxas asked. He was disgusted by how this girl was acting. "You're acting like a freaking baby."

As soon as Roxas fired another curse from his mouth, Namine started to vigorously shake her head back and forth. The sight was awkward, since she was both shaking her head and rocking up and down.

"Problem, problem. Whose problem? Not my problem. What problem is? Problem, problem. Baby, freaking. Freaking baby. No, no, bad words, no. Bad words. Bad, bad words. Nami doesn't like bad words, no, no."

_This girl is nuts,_ he thought to himself. This mental girl was regurgitating what he was saying, only in ungrammatical sentences.

While Namine was chanting away the sentences Roxas had given her, Chigusa stepped into the room with a small tote bag. It was full of capsules and small boxes. This girl sure took a lot of meds.

"What's going on here?" his mother asked, rushing over to Namine's side.

"Bad, bad, words. Freaking baby. Problem? Whose problem? Not problem my." Namine rocked back and forth, tucking her knees to her chest. She stared down at her pale knees while she babbled more nonsense.

His mother, clearly getting the message, glared at her son.

"_What_ exactly did you say while I was gone?" she asked in a sharp voice.

"I just said she was acting weird."

"Weird, weird. Who's weird? Not weird I. Weird, no." Namine butted in. She seemed to like tattling on Roxas.

"Did you say 'freaking'?" Chigusa asked. Her eyes pierced through Roxas's, and he could tell she already knew the answer.

"Well, yeah." He replied causally with a shrug. "I mean, she's mental for crying out loud."

Chigusa, completely disappointed in her son's behavior, shook her head and put a hand to her forehead.

"Roku, if you're going to learn how to be a decent, humble, young man, you could at least have empathy to those that are specially challenged."

Roxas was clearly pissed off with his mother's constant criticism. His voice rose as he said, "Mom, why do you keep calling them 'challenged'?! They're retarded! Can't you see that!?"

Namine let out a loud shriek and cupped her ears with her hands. She lowered her head down to her chest so that she was in a fetal position.

"Loud noise! Loud noise! No loud noise! Challenge, challenge, stop challenge, stop challenge!"

"Namine, please calm down, honey!" Chigusa quickly hurried to her side and put a warm hand to her shoulder.

Suddenly, her loud shrieking subsided and it was completely silent again, and the TV was only thing heard.

"Namine doesn't like arguments," his mother said. "So unless you want more of her screaming, then I suggest you change your attitude."

Roxas turned around and rolled his eyes.

"Now, let's get going, Namine," Chigusa said as she helped Namine up from her bed. "We've got everything that'll make you perfectly comfortable at our home."

"'Our _home_'?" Roxas repeated. He whipped around to face his mother with widened eyes. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! What do you mean 'our home'!?"

Chigusa blinked.

"Namine is staying with us," she said plainly.

He took a step back and almost bumped into a bookshelf.

"She's _living_ with us?!"

"Just for a week," his mother said with a smile. "I think it's about time she experiences the real world."

"A mental girl like her?"

Chigusa frowned at her son's remark.

"Roku, Namine is a human being, just like you and me. There's no need to call her something derogatory like that."

Namine squirmed as she tried to wriggle her hand out of Chigusa's grip.

Someone was getting antsy.

Chigusa quickly glanced down at Namine, whose head was lowered to the ground as she continued to twist her hand around and around.

"Namine wants to go," she said. "Roku, can you take the tote bag? I need to get her to the car."

As his mother left her son with the dirty work, Namine realized that she was leaving her secluded room. Which, of course, was the only place she knew. She turned to take one last look at her secluded home, which was squeezed in between two larger patient rooms. Her room was so cramped that it was easy to miss. In a way, her room resembled her: small, frail, secluded, and hidden off from civilization. But now, she was being taken away. She was leaving the place she knew so well; the place she had lived for ten years of her life.

Namine clutched her sketchbook close to her chest as a complete stranger dragged her away from her home.

_**-X-X-X-X-X-**_

"But I thought we were going home," Roxas moaned as he slammed the backseat door. His mother had forced him to sit in the back with Namine, since she didn't want the girl to feel lonely.

Not like she already was.

Roxas could clearly tell that the girl was terrified, if not horrorstruck. He would be, too, if he was being taken away from the only place he knew.

The only thing that was restricting her banshee howls was her sketchbook, which she'd already opened and had resumed drawing.

Chigusa started the engine, making the car come to life. Namine flinched, and tightly gripped her yellow pencil.

"Is she alright?" she asked as she drove out of the hospital's parking lot.

Roxas, barely even acknowledging his mother, replied, "Yeah, I guess so."

His mother sighed, disappointed.

"Roku, can you please act a little more positive? Namine can feel the emotions in the air, and what you're telling her right now is that you're mad."

"Well, I hope she keeps on thinking that," he said, putting his head back on the headrest. "Because I never asked to do this."

"But seriously, honey. That friend of yours would never do community service," his mother mentioned as she took a left turn.

Roxas frowned by this way his mother referred to his friend.

"It's Hayner," he spat.

"Right."

Another thing that ticked him off was the way his mother hated his circle of friends – particularly his best friend, Hayner. He was the exact opposite of what his mother liked; headstrong, persistent, outspoken, and rude. Whenever Roxas ever mentioned Hayner, he'd always see his mother stiffen or give that "I-don't-like-where-this-is-going" type of look. She's stand idly by while he spoke, but would always add in, "Why don't you hang out with Sora? You two used to be best friends in second-grade."

Sora was another story. Sure, they'd been friends in _second-grade_. But then after eighth-grade, it had all gone downhill. And the worst thing was that Sora was his neighbor. And that meant that they had to see each other every morning.

And that was why Roxas never updated his mother about his life.

She'd only criticize it, anyway.

"Oh, I heard from Sora's mom that Sora is hosting an end-of-the-school-year party," his mother mentioned in a cheerful voice. Roxas already knew that she was trying to persuade him to go.

"Not interested," he said flatly. He already knew what his mother did; once he mentioned Hayner, she'd quickly try to change the subject to Sora, who – in her opinion – was a much more "civilized" boy.

"That's too bad," his mother said with a sigh.

Roxas wasn't about to fall for another one of his mother's traps. They were way too obvious.

As Roxas looked out the window, he saw that they were pulling into another parking lot, and not their house's driveway.

"Wait, where are we?" he asked, looking over at his mother.

His mother was already unbuckling herself as she said, "Oh, we're just getting a few groceries at Safeway."

"What for?" he asked, unbuckling as well.

Namine was happily sketching along, not even aware that the two were getting out.

"I want Namine to feel welcome at our house," Chigusa explained. "And that's why I thought preparing a nice meal would help her."

"But we can just make instant noodles," he groaned as he opened his car door.

"Namine has very strict tastes," his mother said as she hopped out. "And besides, ramen is unhealthy." She glanced down at the glass window behind her driver's seat, finding Namine still buckled in. "Oh, Roxas, you didn't tell Namine that we're getting out?"

"It's not like she's gonna go anywhere," he replied with a shrug.

Chigusa put her hands on her hips and shook her head, disappointed.

"Namine is a _patient_, Roku. We never leave her unattended. What if she choked herself with the seatbelt?"

"She wouldn't; she's too stupid," Roxas said, withholding a snicker.

His mother scowled and pursed her lips.

"Well, I'll just meet you inside," she said, clearly annoyed with her son. "And you get the cart, too. I'll be in the vegetable section." And with that, she whirled around and briskly walked towards the Safeway.

Roxas made a face behind his mother's back and looked back down at Namine, who was still drawing.

"It's not like anybody would care if she died," he mumbled as he opened her door.

For once, Namine responded to this action by looking up at him. After all, he was the one who made the noise.

Her eyes were incredibly blue. In fact, they were so pigmented, that they made her pale skin look like a ghost's.

"Man, she need to get out more," he said.

She didn't respond and instead just sat there, looking up at him.

"Well? Aren't you gonna get out?"

Again, there was no response.

"Please tell me you're not as useless as you look."

She gave him a blank look. If it weren't for her shaking hand, she'd look just like a statue.

"Oh, my _God_," he sighed as he ducked inside the car. He reached over her and pressed the button that released the belt's buckle. "You can't do _anything_, can you?"

She remained stiff until he leaned away, her eyes glued to him.

"Well, get out already."

Slowly, she swiveled to the side and hopped out, her light blue sandals scrunching against the gravel.

Roxas slammed the door shut and locked the car with the extra set of keys his mother gave him.

"Let's get this over with," he sighed as he walked over towards the Safeway.

Namine, however, didn't move an inch.

"Come on," he called as he continued to walk.

Again, she didn't move, and instead squinted up at the summer sky. She looked like a lost soul, as did every other patient at a hospital.

Since she wasn't budging, Roxas dragged a cart that had been left behind by someone ("the lazy bastards", as Hayner put it) and pushed it back over towards her.

The loud noise of wheels being pushed across the gravel made her jump and look at Roxas again.

"Push it," he instructed, letting the cart go.

The cart sailed over to her, and hit her right in the stomach. She stumbled a bit, and stared down at the thing that had just hit her.

Roxas was surprised she hadn't started crying, like a baby would.

"God, what a pain you are," he complained as he spun the cart around to face him. "You _push_ it. Like _this_." He stretched his arms forward, making the metal cart screech forward.

Namine blinked at the cart as it moved straight.

"Ugh, forget it," he sighed. His patience had grown short, and had reached its limit. "I'll just push the freaking thing."

"Freaking cart. Cart freaking." She noted.

"You really like bad words, huh?" he asked as he pushed the cart forward.

Namine slowly trailed behind him like a lost puppy.

"It forget. Cart, cart, freaking cart. No, no, bad words, bad. Bad! Bad words."

A few people turned their attention to them as they entered the supermarket. It was hard to miss: an annoyed boy and a girl that babbled nonsense. It was too strange to not pay attention to.

Roxas was embarrassed by all the stares they were getting, and quickly tried to hush her down.

"Can you be a little less quiet?" he said through gritted teeth.

"Quiet, quiet. Less, little. Cart freaking. Freaking cart!"

An elderly woman dropped the tomato she had in her hand as Namine hollered alongside Roxas.

"Shhh!" he hissed. He stood on his toes and looked around the produce section for his mother. He wanted to dump this nutjob off with her.

A bump was heard from behind him and he turned around to see Namine picking through a bunch of cantaloupes. Each time she picked one up and felt its rough texture, she threw it down on the ground once she was finished.

One of the Safeway workers was giving her a disapproving look, and scowled at her as he passed by with a box of fresh peaches.

"Namine, stop it!" Roxas desperately hissed, swiping the cantaloupe out of her hand. "Just stand still, would you?!"

"Still, stand. Would you!?" she repeated in her choppy sentences.

"Ugh," he groaned as he bent down to gather up all the cantaloupes she'd dropped. "Where _is_ she?"

"Roxas?"

Roxas looked up to see a girl with dark red hair staring back down at him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

His cheeks immediately flushed and he quickly stood up.

"K-Kairi!" he stammered as he avoided her gaze. "I was just, uh…"

The girl leaned to the side to find Namine right behind him, taking yet another cantaloupe into her hand.

"And who's that?" she asked.

"Oh, her?" he said with a nervous laugh. "Oh, she's just my cousin."

"Really? She seems to like cantaloupes," she said with a laugh.

Roxas smiled and laughed along, too.

"Y-Yeah, she does."

"Roku!"

_'Crap,'_ Roxas thought as he saw his mother bounding over with plastic bags. They were full of all sorts of vegetables. That was his mother; always buying more than what was needed.

Kairi looked behind her shoulder to see Chigusa running over and stopping short once she saw who Roxas was talking to.

"Oh my," she said, her eyes blinking with surprise. "I'm sorry if I interrupted your conversation."

"No, you didn't," Kairi said politely. "I just saw Roxas, so-!"

"She's a classmate," Roxas quickly interrupted. He didn't want his mother jumping to conclusions. Besides, he knew what his mother would say if he let Kairi talk. "We were in the same English class in ninth-grade."

"Oh, how nice," his mother commented.

"Um, I better get going," Kairi said, her eyes moving to her left. Whenever there were parents around, it was bound to get uncomfortable. "See you around, Roxas." She gave him a smile and then walked away.

As he watched her go, he didn't notice Namine dropping another cantaloupe, which brought him back to his senses.

"Nice girl, isn't she?" Chigusa cooed as she watched the redhead girl walk off.

"M-Mom!" Roxas hissed as he turned pink. "She's just a friend!"

"Alright, alright," his mother said, realizing that she was causing him grief. "But she's a real cutie."

"Cutie, cutie," Namine repeated as she turned her attention over to the oranges on display. It appeared that she'd grown tired of cantaloupes.

"Namine, don't touch those," Chigusa said as she grabbed Namine's hand just in time. "If you don't want it, then you don't touch it, honey."

"Don't want, don't want honey."

Chigusa sighed. Namine would need full attention if they were going to get the groceries. And thankfully, she had a sane person standing right beside her.

"Roku, honey, could you get some yogurt for Namine? I need to get the hamburger meat for the butcher, so…"

"Sure," Roxas said. Besides, what else was he supposed to say?

"Great," his mother said, relieved. "I think she likes Nestle brand, but she'll tell you."

"What?"

"Follow Roku, honey," Chigusa said, gently leading Namine over to her son. "Tell him what kind of yogurt you like."

Namine, who decided to be quiet, didn't say anything and instead lowered her head to look at the white tiled floor.

"But I that you were gonna-!"

"Having me taking care of her wouldn't be community service, would it?" his mother asked as she took the cart. "You just got to pay attention to her and everything will work out fine."

_'But it's like taking care of a grown baby,'_ Roxas thought as his mother pushed the cart away.

Namine was already starting to go back to the stack of oranges, but Roxas quickly caught her just in time and instructed her to follow him to the dairy section.

Trying to get to the dairy products took ages, since many things, such as the collection of kiddy balloons, the pretty display of flowers, the magazine aisle, and the sticker display, easily distracted Namine.

And as a reward for leading her to the dairy section safely, Roxas was presented with the ever-so welcoming cold air of the refrigerated goods. Clearly, he didn't like this reward. As soon as he stepped foot in the aisle, he'd tried to pull down his jacket's sleeves as far as they could. He made a mental note to bring an actual jacket whenever he went to Safeway again.

The cold temperature must've affected Namine, too, since her shoulders were already shaking.

"Okay," Roxas said, already wishing that he were somewhere warmer. "So which one is it?" He pointed at the different brands and flavors of yogurts.

Namine stood beside him with her usual blank expression.

She scanned all the brands and flavors once, twice, and then thrice.

…But nothing seemed to dawn upon her.

"And my mother _actually_ thinks you have a brain," he sighed with a roll of his eyes. He jammed his hands in his jacket's pockets and waited.

After two minutes of standing in the freezing dairy section, Namine finally picked up a random brand (that wasn't Nestle) of strawberry-flavored yogurt.

Roxas looked at the label.

"Dannon's? You eat that kind of crap?"

Namine put the yogurt cup and then picked up a different one, holding it for Roxas to look at the label again.

"Chocobo Kids? Are you serious?"

Again, Namine put it down and picked up a different one.

"Dole? I thought they made juices."

The only brand left was the one his mother predicted she liked.

"Nestle? That's more like it."

Namine smiled and nodded.

Roxas didn't know why, but he smiled back.

Her smile seemed like it needed another one in return. Without another, it just seemed…wasteful.

"Roku!"

He didn't know how his mother always knew where he was. He hoped that she hadn't clipped a GPS device onto him.

"Did you get it?"

"Yeah."

Namine was still smiling and turned around to face Chigusa as she held the yogurt cup out to her.

"Oh, thank you, Namine," she said sweetly as she took the cup from her. "Do you want just one?"

"Eat that kind crap!" she answered cheerfully.

Roxas shuddered as he realized that Namine had repeated what he'd said to her earlier.

His mother's smile faded, and was lost for words when she heard Namine's answer.

"W-What was that Namine?"

"Crap, crap!" she cheered happily.

"Roxas," his mother said, finally calling him by his proper name. "_What_ did you say in front of Namine?"

…And it was then that Roxas wondered why he'd even smiled back.

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**_Well, that's the first chapter. I wanted to write a story that related to people that have limications in their lives - being mentally challenged is only one of them. Every time I see a person making fun of someone with special needs, I just have this feeling where I want to go over and tell them off. So hopefully I'll be able to get my feelings across with the help of Namine and Roxas._**

**_Please review! I love to get comments and (especially) critiques!_**

**_-Shana-san_**


	2. Bad Bathroom Behavior

**.:Lithium Flowers:.**

_By: Nietono-no-Shana_

_

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_**Disclaimer: **I do not own anything related to Kingdom Hearts or another other branded items.

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_**Chapter Two: Bad Bathroom Behavior**_

After an embarrassing shape-up from his mother at the Safeway grocery store, Chigusa, Roxas, and Namine were able to file into the car and had managed to arrive in the quiet suburbs of Twilight Town without hitting any traffic whatsoever.

"Roku, dear, could you take Namine inside?" Chigusa asked once she'd opened the driver's door and popped the trunk. She knew that her son would try to make a break for it once they'd arrived home, and she wasn't about to let him get away with volunteering. "I'll take care of the groceries," she reassured him as she passed by his opened car door.

He bit his lip in response and scowled at her mother's back. She knew him too well, didn't she? But then again, her job involved dealing with kids, so it was no wonder she knew him like an open book.

Sighing heavily, Roxas unbuckled himself and walked over to the other side of the car, where Namine was seated, happily drawing without any disruptions. For a second, Roxas thought about leaving her there, but then the worst-case scenario of her burning to a crisp in the hot summer heat made him reconsider.

"So," he began to say, "Are you getting out or not?"

Hearing his voice, Namine looked up from her sketchpad and blinked up at him with baby-like eyes. Her stupidity made her look even more idiotic.

"Well?"

Again, there was no response, but instead a stare-down competition.

"Look, you've already gotten me in enough trouble, so there's nothing else you can do to make it worse."

"Worse make worse," she regurgitated as she took snippets of his sentence.

"Oh, so you _want_ to make it worse, don't you?" he asked, a tinge of annoyance in his tone.

Namine could feel the bad vibe in the air, and she probably had had a streak of intelligence, because she'd decided to clamp her mouth shut again.

"That's what I thought," he muttered in finality.

Just then, Roxas could pick up sounds coming from the neighboring house's backyard. Curious, he turned around to realize that the chatter was coming closer and closer. It didn't take him long to figure out that the house with the noisy sounds was Sora's. And in a few seconds, he could already see the tufts of spiky brown hair his neighbor had. He was coming up the small slope from his backyard, along with three of his jockey pals. They came from the back quite rudely as well: their plastic flip-flops scrunching against the trimmed grass; iced tea (that could probably be jacked up with alcohol for all he knew); and that fake, white-teeth smile, accompanied by that voice that belonged to a stereotypical jock.

Once the four boys had come into clear view, Sora – who was the center of attention, naturally – was the first to spot a gawking Roxas staring straight back at him. Sora's smile instantly faded, and in its place was a distant, a serious gaze. The ice in his (alcoholic) iced tea clanked around in its glass cup, and by then his friends caught on and stared straight back at Roxas as well.

The muscles in Roxas's body tensed, and Roxas immediately lowered his eyes to the ground submissively; he knew better than to challenge a popular. He spun around and briskly walked to his front door, completely forgetting about Namine, since he'd been standing in front of her.

Now that she was fully exposed to the bright sun's rays, it was obvious for the four boys to see that he'd left a girl buckled in her car seat. Her pale skin glowed in the sun's warmth as she leaned out of the car, wondering where Roxas had gone. She was unaware of the four pairs of eyes that were glued to her as she unbuckled herself and slowly found her way to the front door.

After a couple minutes of gawking, one of Sora's friends – a silver-haired boy – said disbelievingly, "That loser's got a girlfriend?"

"I…guess so," Sora replied. Though he, too, was shocked.

Meanwhile, as the four jocks started to gossip (that was what popular kids did even if they were boys, right?), Roxas was already clambering up the carpeted steps of his house. Apparently, they'd scared him to the point of going into his room.

Roxas's house was quite picturesque, complimentary of his mother's tendency to keep everything perfect. It was the kind of home filled with the latest furniture you might see in an interior's catalog, with all the forks and knives placed correctly on the dining table and the curtains complimenting the wall's color. It also had that new homey smell, which Roxas hated as well; this could've been because his mother had started to clean more frequently ever since Cloud had left for college.

Once he'd reached the top of the steps, he could hear his mother down in the kitchen area, putting things into the cabinets and pulling out the pots and pans needed for dinner. He was about to go down and help until Namine had appeared in the doorway. She peeked through the door, blinking at the living room, which of course, was all color-coded and unusually perfect.

After looking in all the other directions, she finally looked up and saw Roxas at the top of stairs, staring straight back at her.

His eyes narrowed and he marched over to his door and closed it shut, which clearly symbolized how he didn't want to be bothered.

Namine stood there for a long time, wondering what to do. She eventually decided to sit down right there in the foyer, pulling out her pencils and starting to draw, like she'd always done. In a way, it was the only thing she _could_ do…

Closing the door behind him, Roxas finally felt at peace. He wandered over to his bed and flopped onto it. Out of all the other plain, unused rooms of his house, his was the only one that was a different color. His mother had disapproved of it at first, but his father – back when he was alive – had overruled his mother's perfectionist ways and had approved.

Remembering his father, Roxas automatically turned to his right, where a small bed stand laid. There was a phone and two pictures on the stand: one picture of him and his friends and one old photo of his family. He could remember the time period of that photo clearly: it was back when he was in elementary, when Cloud was in middle school, and when his father and mother were a happy couple.

The times when Cloud was still around in the house, when his father was alive, and when his mother didn't pester him so much seemed like the good old days, where nothing went wrong. He yearned for those days to come back. If they did, maybe he wouldn't be so…bored all the time.

At the thought of being bored, the phone on his bed stand rung, and he quickly picked up the receiver.

"Hello?"

"Yo, Roxas!"

Roxas couldn't help but smile. Thank God he had a social life.

"Hey, Hayner," he answered back.

"Where were you today? I went over to your neighborhood and didn't find you. And, may I say that your neighborhood looks like a wannabe Beverly Hills."

Roxas laughed at Hayner's insulting comment; after all, it _was_ true.

Hayner, though, wasn't the richest kid on the block. Unlike Roxas – who was living "the good life" in Hayner's opinion – he lived in the lesser-rich homes of Twilight Town. They weren't exactly ghetto homes; they were just considered…middle class. It was such a fancy term for something that wasn't really all that special, anyway. Everything looked the same, so why even have a status-class for houses?

"I was over at the hospital," Roxas explained. "My mom…made me volnteer."

He heard a loud moan from his friend over the receiver. It seemed Hayner had had the same reaction as him.

"She did _what_?!"

"I know," Roxas replied with a shake of his head. "I couldn't escape this one."

"But you and I were supposed to do it together!" Hayner cried. "We were gonna do it during senior year!"

"She didn't buy it." Roxas said, lying down on his bed as he cupped the receiver onto his ear. "Besides, she said that you would never end up doing it."

"Ugh," Hayner humphed. He hated it when people never trusted him. In truth, he was actually a pretty loyal guy. That is, if you got to know him.

"Well, now that my senior plan has been ruined, how about summer ideas?" he proposed. "Got any good hang-out spots?"

"Well…there's the beach," Roxas mentioned.

"That's a no-brainer, Roxas. C'mon, it's a tradition that we go there every year."

"Oh, right."

"Oh! How about the Struggle?" Hayner advised. "That's the only time when we can beat up other people and not get arrested for it!"

"Hm…would Seifer be in it?"

"Most likely."

"Then count me in-!" Roxas started to say.

However, his mother had swung his door open and stood in the doorway with her hands on her hips.

'Crap,' Roxas cursed as he saw his mother waiting patiently for him to finish his talk with Hayner.

"Uh, Hayn, listen, I gotta run," Roxas quickly blurted.

"Huh? Oh, okay then."

"Sorry," he apologized.

"No prob. Just call me back later, 'kay?"

"Sure," And after hanging up the phone, he turned to face his mother politely. He gave her his "un-divided attention", like she'd always taught him. It was key whenever speaking to her that he had his eyes looking directly at hers. He didn't have to necessarily listen. As long as she saw that his eyes were on hers, she would think that he was listening. When, in fact, he wasn't.

"Roku," she began, in her firm and serious voice, "Why didn't you escort Namine to the door like I'd asked?"

"I did," Roxas protested. "But when I told – er, asked – her to come inside, she wouldn't."

His mother could clearly tell that he was lying, and merely shook her head in her usual disappointed mood. "Roku, honey, I'm trying to help you get into college," she sighed. "And you're not even helping yourself."

"But, mom-!"

"Do you know what would happen if you never got accepted into college?!" she cried. It was obvious that her worst-case scenario mode was on.

"Mom, it's not they're gonna deny me because I haven't done any-!"

"But it _increases_ your chances! Just like Cloud's had! And Cloud even wanted to do it on his own!"

The mention of Cloud made a pang of guilt hit Roxas's heart, and he decided to let his mother speak her mind. Besides, it was the only way this whole lecture would end sooner.

She sighed and shook her head again.

"If only you were like Cloud, I wouldn't have to be so stressed out like this."

"I'm sorry, mom." Roxas apologized. He'd been able to perfect his apologetic tone so skillfully that even his mother couldn't tell if he really meant it or not. "I…guess I don't know what it means to actually get accepted into a good college."

His mother gave a small smile, happy that her son was able to see the error of his ways (even though he really hadn't).

"Oh, Roku," she said, all happy and perfect again, "I didn't mean for you to take it that seriously."

"No, you're right mom," he continued. "You're right."

Those were the words she'd always loved to hear. Those two words were the best compliment you could ever give her. With just two words, you'd be on her "good" list.

"Okay, honey," she said in closure. "Now that we've got that all settled, I just wanted to say that Marluxia is coming over for dinner, too."

"What?"

His mother blinked her eyes uncaringly, as if this was perfectly normal.

"Marluxia is coming over for dinner. He just called me at Safeway, and I decided to invite him over."

"Marluxia?"

"Yes," she said slowly. "Why do you ask?"

"Uh…no reason," Roxas said with a small laugh, as if that would make the situation better.

It was just that Marluxia was the most fakest man in the world.

Seriously, he overdid everything: from the way his hair was all layered so that it looked like he came from the hair salon; from the way he spoke with that ever-too-perfect tone, as if he practiced it in the mirror before putting it into action; from the way he presented his mother with gifts, which looked liked he'd gotten them in advance from some cheesy store like Hallmark…

Just about everything from Marluxia's clothes to his unusual elegance made Roxas want to throw up. He didn't even know what his mother saw in him, either; he was just some selfish, wannabe jerk, who automatically judged people by the way they dress.

However, Marluxia had always showered his mother with expensive chocolates and the like (which, of course, tasted like crap in Roxas's opinion), and always sweetened her up with lame pick-up-lines he'd probably read from a book, too.

He was just so _fake!_

But of course, Roxas would never say his opinions about Marluxia to his mother. She'd only have her heart broken in the end.

It was at times like these that Roxas wished he could go back in time, when his real father (who wasn't so lame and fake) would be there to balance out his mom's neediness. If only those times would come back when he needed them…

"…get the shower ready," his mother had finished. She'd been talking while Roxas had been dreading Marluxia's unexpected visit.

"What?" Roxas asked. "I…didn't heart that, sorry."

"Oh, I just wanted you to get the shower ready."

Roxas's eyes nearly popped out.

"Wait, Marluxia is showering at our house?"

For all he knew, his mother probably didn't have the right shampoo that classy guy used, anyway. And he was almost positive that his cheap-branded shampoo would never come in contact with that freak's hair.

"No, no, no, Roku!" his mother exclaimed, blushing as she did so.

'She's serious about him, isn't she?' Roxas thought with dismay.

"I meant Namine!"

"Namine?"

"Yes. I want her to look nice and lovely, since Marluxia is coming."

'Oh, just for that?' he thought. So, if Marluxia didn't come, then she wouldn't have had to take a bath?

Roxas could see from the sparkle in her eyes that she wanted everything to go perfect, now that her boyfriend was coming. He had no other choice but to force a smile and say, "I'll do it for you, mom."

"Oh, thank you Roku!" she cooed delightedly. "I'm so happy that you're willing to help me out!"

'I have no other choice,' Roxas thought behind his fake smile.

"Just get the stuff under the bathroom cabinets," she instructed as she turned to leave his room. "Oh, and don't forget to get a new bar of soap." And with that she was walking down the stairs, humming along to a tune he didn't know. (It was probably a song from that stupid CD Marluxia had given her as one of her presents.)

Roxas turned to the left of the hallway and opened the door to the guest bathroom. It would've had that new homey smell if it weren't for the vanilla scented candle neatly placed next to the sink.

"What do girls take showers with?" Roxas mumbled aloud, squatting down to open the cabinets beneath the sink. He was a bit embarrassed at the thought, since girls were always a very touchy subject whenever it popped up. He thought about phoning Olette, but decided not to, since she was known to take things to a whole new level.

After a few minutes of educated guessing, Roxas had managed to pull out a bottle of unopened shampoo and a new bar of soap (under his mother's request).

Hearing all the ruckus from the bathroom, Namine, who'd been in the guest bedroom, slowly walked across the hallway and peeked her head through the bathroom door. When she saw Roxas scuttling along the bath rugs and touching everything, she decided to do the same.

Opening the door wider, she let herself in and started touching the hand towel, the sink's liquid soap, and even picking up the liquid shampoo Roxas had placed out.

It wasn't until he noticed that the shampoo was gone that he realized that Namine was in the bathroom as well.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded. "I thought you were in the car, burning to a crisp."

She didn't bother to look up or reply, and instead stared down at the shampoo's label.

"Don't touch anything," he ordered, walking over to her and snatching the bottle out of her hands. "You're going to use it in just a second, so wait."

"Touch, touch, touch," she repeated. It seemed that this was the only word with any importance.

And, as instructed by that one word, she continued to touch everything, which was the exact opposite of what Roxas wanted.

She resumed touching everything: the towels, the racks, the countertop, the soap, the bottle, the windowpane, the shower curtain…

…Until it came to Roxas's arm.

Her pale slender finger brushed against Roxas's tanned one and slid down from his elbow to his wrist. It was such a soft, feather-like touch that it felt like an angel had touched him. For a moment he just stared down at her, wondering what the heck she wanted from his arm. It wasn't holding the shampoo bottle she wanted, because the arm she touched wasn't holding it.

Was it something else…?

Feeling uncomfortable staring into the endless abyss of her blue eyes, Roxas quickly shrunk away from her touch and scooted across the bathroom to the tub.

"O-kay," he said, trying to make the atmosphere better. When, in fact, it only made it weirder.

Roxas placed the shampoo bottle and bar of soap on the metal rack that was next to the shower's nozzle. He stared down at the tub's faucet, which was used for baths. He looked up at her and was about to ask whether she preferred baths of showers. But then he decided not to question, since one: he knew she was mentally retarded and didn't know any better; and two: she was a girl, and it even made him embarrassed asking a girl if they took showers. After what seemed like a minute of debating, he chose the bath over the shower, since he was too lazy to reach up for the shower nozzle.

"Okay, so everything's ready," he sighed as he turned around to face her. Again, she gave him that saddened and distant expression as a reply. It was getting annoying, actually…

"So…I'll be leaving," he said awkwardly. He turned to shuffle out of the bathroom and give her privacy when she tugged at his jacket's sleeve, making him stop.

"What now!?" he groaned. "Please tell me you know how to turn on a bath's faucet."

But she would never speak, even if he wanted her to. And instead, she started another stare down with him.

"You are so _useless_," he complained. Though, he was secretly happy that he was of use to her. If it were because he now had a higher chance of seeing a girl naked, he'd be damned.

Rolling up his sleeves and pants, he stepped into the dry tub and faced her, who was standing right across from him and outside of the tub's radius.

"You just…you know…uh…take off your clothes, you know? Like this," he explained as he pantomimed taking off his clothes.

Namine simply blinked up at Roxas's awkward hand motions, blinking in curiosity. If she were a girl with a normal mind, she'd probably be laughing uncontrollably right now. But since she was a girl that knew nothing about right or wrong, serious or funny, or of hate and love, all she could do was stare.

"You know, just…" he knew he wasn't getting his message across and sighed heavily. It was like teaching a baby how to do mole problems in chemistry!

"Forget it. You're just making me look like an idiot," he snapped. "Hey, mom!"

But his mother could never hear him with the blaring music coming from the stereo in the kitchen. She was playing some stupid lovey-dovey song from a CD Marluxia had give her. Which, in his opinion, was just plain lame.

Frustrated with his mother for never listening, he decided to turn on the faucet of the bathtub.

The low, annoying hum of the faucet rang throughout the guest bathroom as the hot water poured into the tub. Roxas had turned it on high blast and the water was heating up at extreme speed. Steam rose up from the tub's scorching water, and Roxas cursed aloud since the water had burned his feet.

Namine's eyes widened with terror as she saw the steam rise up from the tub, enshrouding Roxas within it. In her mind, a horrible memory crept from the back of her mind to the present, and she remembered a grotesque occurrence that she had caused…

"No, no, no, NO!" she yelped as she sank down to the tiled floor of the bathroom. As challenged kids usually did, she cupped her hands over her ears as if she were hearing a screeching, metallic noise that only she could hear.

Startled by this sudden outburst, Roxas immediately looked with horrified eyes as he saw Namine babbling out millions of 'no's. What the hell was _wrong_ with her?!

"Hey!" he yelled over the loud hum of the faucet. "Stop i-!"

"No steam, no steam, no STEAM!" she hollered, her voice becoming a shriek. She vigorously shook her head from side to side, and kept on firing out more 'no's from her mouth. "Tidy go away, Tidy want no go away, Tidy go away, no steam, Tidy, no steam, no, no, no, NO!"

With the cacophonous sounds of the cheesy love music from downstairs, Namine's banshee howls, and the loud hum of the tub's faucet, Roxas couldn't blame Namine for going crazy. Even though he was normal boy with an unmeshed-up mind, this mixture of sounds sure was getting on his nerves, too. But Namine's contribution, however, was on the verge of getting the cops over and putting her in a straightjacket. The nut house would be a perfect place, no?

Shaking the image out of his mind, Roxas hopped out of the quarter-filled tub, sloshing the water all around the tub and leaving his toes damp and slippery. He came over towards her and tried to pry Namine's hands off her ears.

"Chill, Namine!" he yelled over the loud humming. "Nothing's gonna hurt you-!"

"What's going on!?" Chigusa yelled over the running water and Namine's cry.

"How the hell would I know!?" Roxas yelled back rudely.

"Tidy no go hell, hell, hell, no!" Namine screeched over an arguing son and mother.

Chigusa's attention strayed from Roxas and Namine and rushed over to the faucet, turning it off as fast as she could.

And just like that, Namine had shut up.

It was pure magic what his mother did.

Pure, goddamn magic.

Sighing with relief, Chigusa put a hand to her head dizzily. "Thank God it was just the steam," she said.

Now that Namine had been cured of the 'scary' steam, she shrugged off Roxas's hands from hers and curled up into a little ball, her knees pressed against her chest. She looked like she'd just seen a shooting, for God's sake…

"What was that all-?"

"I'll tell you later Roku, okay?" His mother interrupted. She gave him a tight smile, the one that she used when she was very stressed. Marluxia was coming over for dinner, and as far as she was concerned, everything _wasn't_ going the way she wanted. Which told Roxas to get the hell out of her way.

"Is there anything I can do?" Roxas asked.

"Yes, actually there is," she replied edgily. She really was trying to control that anger, wasn't she? "I left some towels on your bed. Would you mind folding them for me?"

"Sure, no problem," he quickly said as he stood up from beside Namine. "I'll go do that right now."

"Thanks, Roku."

"Yeah."

As he left the bathroom, he couldn't help but wonder what it was that made Namine freak out like that. He hadn't done anything wrong, right?

From his room, he could hear through the thin walls of the house that his mom was trying to comfort Namine, regardless of her foul mood.

And for some reason, he felt a tinge of jealousy…

* * *

**Authoress: **Nietono-no-Shana  
**Inspiration from:** An old neighbor of mine who has a mentally challenged kid  
**Notes:** Thanks for reading! Review if you want to. (I enjoy getting feedback and/or constructive criticism, though.)


	3. The Gentleman Who Came for Dinner

**.:Lithium Flowers:.**

_By: Nietono-no-Shana_

**

* * *

Disclaimer:** I do not own Kingdom Hearts

* * *

_**  
Chapter 3 – The Gentleman Who Came for Dinner  
**_

_If the freight train leaves 3 hours after the passenger train while both of them are traveling on parallel tracks, at what distance will both trains meet up with one another if the freight train is traveling 120 km/hr, and the passenger train is traveling at 80 km/hr?_

It was after twenty-five minutes of mathematical frustration that Roxas finally decided to give up and head on to the next problem. …And the one after, and the one after that. By the fifth unanswered question, he was really tempted to call up his brother, who was probably lying around in his Harvard dorm room, already finished with his homework and getting ready for bed.

Cloud had always helped him with his homework – particularly with the word problems. It had always come so easily to him, too. He only had to read the question once, and then he'd be off in his logical realm, scribbling down the variables and the equations – all with perfect finesse.

And it was at times like these that he hated his brother for the mounds of perfection stored within him. Why did his older brother have to have all of it? Why couldn't he have left some for his younger brother that had come 2 years after him?

Just when Roxas was about to explode from all the thinking, he heard the doorbell ring. Immediately, he twisted his head to look at his alarm clock.

7:00 PM sharp.

Perfect timing, as expected.

Roxas weighted the two choices he had presented in front of him. One was to stay in his room and try to figure out these insanely difficult questions. The other was to go downstairs and slack off on homework and still get an excuse for it. There was a catch, however. He'd have to deal with the retarded girl, as well as the Fake Flower Man. Hm, it was a dilemma, indeed…

"Roku!" he heard his mother call from downstairs.

Well, it looked like he'd had his decision made for him.

Rolling his eyes, he reluctantly got up from his desk's chair and opened his door. From in between the staircase's railing, he could already see the tufts of Marluxia's layered hair. God, was he trying to look like a girl, or something? What exactly did his mother _see_ in him, anyway? If only he knew, then he'd be able to talk her out of dating his sleazebag!

He intentionally came down the stairs slowly, just to stall time and get the two lovebirds frustrated. Oh, how he loved it whenever the Marluxia pursed his lips in annoyance. It was like he wanted to scold him, but he couldn't, because he wasn't his father! And also, it could affect the relationship he had with his mother. That's why Roxas always acted like an asshole whenever he came.

It was fun torturing him!

"Hello, Roxas," Marluxia said in his dainty tone as he forced a polite smile. "It's always nice to see you."

"Oh, please," he said with a sigh.

"Roku," his mother warned sweetly. "Please don't say things like that."

"Okay, _mom_," he replied politely. He quickly glanced over at Marluxia, to see if he got the message when he'd emphasized the word 'mom'.

Because what Roxas had wanted to say was something along the lines of: 'She's taken, buddy; so go and find someone else and get the hell out of our house.'

After all, he _was_ trying to be subtle.

"These are for you," Marluxia said, handing Chigusa a freshly made bouquet of roses. "I'm sorry if this gift isn't the best; it was on short notice."

"They're beautiful!" his mother exclaimed, taking them gently from his perfect, smooth hands.

Roxas rolled his eyes beside his mother and hoped that the Fake Flower Man saw this.

He always gave her flowers. (Always being roses, too.)

Hence the name 'Fake Flower Man', since he was a fake guy with no personality, always brought flowers, and was a man (or was he?).

"I've got dinner all set up," his mother said, her eyes lighting up whenever they met Marluxia's. "Are you ready?"

"Of course," he said. "But really, you didn't have to invite me."

"Oh, but we _wanted_ to," Roxas butted in, leaning forward as he did so. "And now you're stuck here with us for two full hours." He gave a fake smile up at the Marluxia, who could only smile back.

…_Even though they both knew that they wanted to chop the other's head off…_

"Ah," his mother interjected, "How about we just go to the dining table?"

"That's a wonderful idea," Marluxia agreed with a grim smile.

"Roku, honey, why don't you go get Namine? I think she's up in her room."

"Namine?" Marluxia repeated, hinting to Chigusa that he wanted to know who this other visitor was.

"Oh, she's a patient of mine," she explained. "Roxas is volunteering for his community service, so he's taking care of her."

"Is he now?" he said, turning to look at Roxas. "You have to treat women with proper care and utmost respect, you know."

"Yeah, whatever," Roxas said, uncaringly.

But, what did make him care in the next three seconds was when Marluxia put a hand over his mother's waist as they both headed towards the dining room.

Ugh, it was so disgusting to even _think_ about! And here he was, actually _seeing_ it!

Roxas stuck his tongue behind Marluxia as he slithered alongside his mother. He really felt like ripping something into shreds.

Just when he was about to go and kick the staircase's wall, his eyes crossed over to their tiny living room, where Namine was quietly drawing away in her sketchbook as she sat atop their white cushioned sofa.

"Hey," he rudely called to her, "Dinner's ready."

**-X-x-X-x-X-**

"This is delicious," Marluxia exclaimed as he put his fork down. He was starting to roll up his white shirt's sleeves, which Roxas thought he was doing in order to obtain some kind of "come-home-from-work-and-look-sexy" look.

"Oh, no, no, no," his mother replied, shaking her head and making her new earrings jingle against her ears. "The dinner you made last week for us was much better than mine."

Roxas slumped in his chair and rolled his eyes.

This was beginning to get unbearable…

He glanced over at Namine, who appeared to be in a coma, since her eyes were fixated on a point somewhere up at the ceiling, and her hands were as still as a statue's.

He then looked over at his mother, who was babbling away to Marluxia about the hurricane that had hit Destiny Islands.

Even at first glance, he could see the changes she'd made to herself whenever she was in the presence of Marluxia. He observed that she always brushed a loose strand of hair from her face, as if that one little imperfection was enough to make Marluxia dump her. The way she dressed was different, too – she always seemed to wear more expensive-looking things (not to mention clothing that 'hung out' a little), and would always, _always_ wear the little trinkets he gave her.

Seeing his mother change right before his eyes scared him, because he knew that the mother he once knew was capable of disappearing in just a matter of days. And he wouldn't be able to pinpoint when exactly she would, when Marluxia could possibly arrive at their doorstep, get on his knees, and pop that doomsday question that would end both his, his brother's, and his mother's lives…

_  
Womanizer, Woman-Womanizer  
You're a womanizer,  
Oh womanizer, Oh you're a womanizer, baby…_

At the sound of Britney's catchy popstar voice, everyone had flinched and snapped to attention as they turned to look in his direction. Chigusa gaped as if her dinner had been ruined; Marluxia couldn't stop wincing at the pounding beats of Britney's song; and Namine, who was stupidly looking around for the source of the sound.

"_Roxas_," his mother growled. She kicked him under the table with one of her high heels, which – of course – hurt like hell. "Turn that thing off."

Roxas didn't know why he'd disobeyed.

Maybe it was because he was so mad at his mother for turning against him, Cloud, and his dad. It was like she pulling each of them out of her life each day, only to be left with one person who she barely even knew.

Nevertheless, he ignored her, and scooted out of his seat and turned around the corner to answer the call.

"_Roxas_," she snarled again, "_Get back here_."

He was lucky his mother didn't stand up and come after him, too, for the person who was calling wasn't supposed to be affiliated with him…

"Hello?" Roxas said, turning the corner from the dining room and entering the hallway next to it.

"Hey. Roxas. Look, we'll pick you up at 2:00 AM. Got it?"

Roxas took a quick peek into the dining room.

Luckily, Marluxia was distracting his mother with political talk, despite his mother's uncomfortable expressions.

He turned back into the hallway and gulped before answering.

"Yeah. Sure."

"See ya outside then."

_Click._

Roxas looked down at his phone and reminded himself that he would have to thank Hayner for changing his ringtone.

That expression on Marluxia's face was _priceless_…

**-X-x-X-x-X-**

"Ngh…"

Roxas flopped onto his stomach, making his bed bounce.

He was fed up with waiting.

He glanced over at his clock.

1:52 AM.

By now, his mother and Namine would be sound asleep, off in their dream worlds, and never having the thought of their innocent little boy running off with a bunch of strangers.

Because Roxas was a good little boy, just like Cloud was.

_Just like Cloud…_

Roxas blinked at the thought of Cloud.

Did Cloud ever steal off into the night like he was doing?

His mother had always kept a tight leash around him, paying no mind to her younger son and instead revolving her world around the perfect one.

But now that the perfect one was gone and doing other perfect things in the world, she had to turn attention to the useless one. The one whose name was Roxas.

Ending on this melancholic note, Roxas heard a small pounding sound from his windowsill. He rose from his beside and peered down his glass window to see three guys looking right back up at him.

One of them made a hand motion to come down while the other two got into the back seats of the black car they'd driven in.

Automatically, Roxas pushed his window open and hopped out onto the roof. He felt the cool night air breeze across his face as he slowly made his way down the roof until he'd come to the edge. Without any hesitation, he slowly let his feet hang about as he clung to the edge of the roof with his hands. After lolling about for a couple of seconds, he let go and flew down to the grassy lawn, landing perfectly on his two feet.

"Getting used to it now?" asked the guy who'd been waiting for him, with hands crossed impatiently.

"Kind of," Roxas replied blandly.

"Let's go," he said, turning around and getting into the driver's seat.

Once Roxas had gotten into the passenger's seat, the driver had already started the engine and had sailed off out of the cul-de-sac with flashing headlights and squeaky brakes that needed to be oiled.

Roxas quickly bucked himself in as the driver speeded past a red light, and one of the guys from the back tried to withhold a guffaw.

"You're such a goody-goody," the driver commented, his flashing green eyes still fixated on the road. "Always buckling yourself in like a baby."

"I don't want to die, with the way you're driving," Roxas answered back coolly. "Besides, you guys always go to the same old place."

"What, you don't like going there now?" the driver said with a grin. He made a sharp turn to the left as they entered the highway.

"No, I'm just saying it's the same old thing every night. It's summer. Don't you want to try something new?"

"Hell no."

"Thought so."

**-X-x-X-x-X-**

If anyone had dropped by for a quick snack or two at the 7-Eleven between 2:00 to 3:00 AM, you'd see three badass-looking guys sitting on the roof of their compact car, smoking, drinking, and having a good time. And then if you looked hard enough, you'd see a fourth guy sitting with them, who clearly looked like he was misplaced in the picture, and someone who didn't look like he belonged with the gang at all.

Nobody really cared about them, anyway. Everyone usually minded their own business. And even if they did get stares, people would think that they were just some stupid high school kids that were doing stupid stuff that all the Anti-Crime and Anti-Tobacco Organizations talked about.

"_Damn_ this stuff is good," sighed the guy who'd driven them to the quick stop. He took the cigarette from his mouth and exhaled, spewing a cloud of gray smoke that was visible under the night sky. "It never fails to impress." He turned to look down at the pack he'd just gotten and took a fresh one out and offered it to Roxas.

And as usual, Roxas shook his head.

"Again, you're such a goody-goody," the guy said with a shake of his flashy red hair. "Why do you guys have to be so _holy_? It's like you're Jesus, only reborn or something."

"I just don't want to smoke," Roxas replied bluntly. "End of story."

"But it's so _good_," a sandy-blonde boy said, reaching for the cigarette box. "It just cleanses your mind from all the stress you've had from the day."

"Demyx, you don't even _have_ any stress in your life," the redhead said.

"I do too!" he snapped back. He made a boyish pout and grabbed a cig from the paper box and lit it up.

"Like what?"

"Like doing homework."

"So that makes it oh-so stressful for you? Even when a million other kids have to do it, too?"

"But not as much as me!"

"Oh, shut the hell up. I have as much homework as you do."

Arguments between Demyx and Axel were quite common, most of them involving completely stupid and irrelevant things. And it was typical of both himself and Zexion – the quiet other guy – to just sit and stare and watch the tasteless action with bored expressions.

Demyx, Axel, and Zexion were freshmen college kids that attended Twilight College, which was not too far from where he lived, and happened to be conveniently placed next to a couple of fast-food restaurants and a small shopping mall. They usually spent their days skipping lectures and hanging around this 7-Eleven, sipping beer and smoking cigs, letting their minds go and drifting off from reality.

Despite being useless people that lounged around a dingy quick stop and did nothing but waste their lives, they were actually pretty entertaining to be around. Although Roxas didn't associate with them (and his mother would've died of a heart attack if she ever found out), he somehow felt a bond between these three druggies.

Demyx, being a complete airhead, failed at almost anything he did, and yet managed to keep an optimistic perspective to everything he messed up (Axel and Zexion say he got this way by all the drugs he'd jacked up on. Now, they say, he doesn't need any drugs to keep him giddy). He had sandy-colored hair, with a mullet that made him look like one of those sloppy band people that traveled from place to place in their car. The one thing he was actually good at, though, was just what his hair implied: music.

Axel, also known as the ring leader of the group, told things like it was, and wasn't afraid to do so. Almost anyone that met his path were usually strayed away from him because of his fiery spiked red hair and intimidating green eyes (not to mention those weird black triangles he put on his face to make him even more unapproachable). Roxas found in less than a few seconds that Axel loved using colorful words, and had a lovely vocabulary to match as he dropped the F-bomb whenever he wanted (which would give his mother a second heart attack if she'd ever met him).

Zexion, on the other hand, contrasted both guys and was usually categorized as an emo freak due to his gray hair that covered one of his clouded-colored eyes. He never smiled (and probably never did when he was child, either), and never spoke a word, unless it was to insult Demyx's mess ups or give some kind of advice about life, which – surprisingly – was quite poetic and wise. He was always staring off in another direction, and preferred to keep to himself than talk to others.

Yes, this little band of baddies were people his mother would totally be against, and wouldn't have even considered to be the types of boys she'd think her little baby boy was hanging around. Hayner was barely tolerable in her view. To think of what she'd do if she ever found out her son was hanging with a bunch of druggies.

But it wasn't his fault that he'd gotten involved with them. In fact, it was his mother's fault for leaving him stranded by himself, waiting outside of the restaurant he'd been dragged to after a small date with Marluxia.

They'd been standing outside around a small lamplight, smoking and talking as usual and not even looking annoyed when Roxas had called over to them to ask where the next payphone was.

And now, as they all took another drag of their cigs, Roxas lay limply on the roof of their car and stared up into the starry night sky.

"So how's the gaywad coming along?" Axel asked, puffing another big cloud of smoke above Roxas's face.

"He's being an asshole as ever," Roxas replied, swishing the smoke out of his view so he could see the twinkling stars. "I really don't know what my mom sees in him."

Demyx put a packet of Starbursts in Roxas's face.

Roxas's eyes traced over to where Demyx was, who had an innocent look plastered on his face.

"I didn't drug them up this time," he urged. "I promise."

With Demyx's packet of chewy candy still in his face, he hesitantly took one, unwrapping its orange wrapper and then plopped it in his mouth for a small chew.

After tasting its orange flavor, he knew that Demyx wasn't lying.

"Dude, you're mother's some kind of whore," Axel said bluntly, putting his cigarette to his lips. "If he's too gay to function, then why does she like him?"

"Aw, don't be so mean, Axel," Demyx reasoned. "He's not that-!"

"He's right, Axel," Roxas interrupted, swallowing his Starburst. "She's an idiot."

"What'd I tell ya? You can never go wrong with my assumptions," he said with a casual shrug. He shook his head and inhaled. "She's. A. _Dumbass_."

Demyx looked at Roxas with concerned eyes. It looked as if Demyx had been hurt by this comment, even when Chigusa wasn't his mother.

Roxas's eyes remained fixated on the sky, not a tear nor any signs of offense. He was just the same – indifferent and nonchalant, completely oblivious by Axel's hurtful comment.

"I think he might be proposing soon, too," Roxas continued. "He looks pretty desperate."

"No freakin' way!" Axel cried, lurching forward to peer into the face of his small high school friend. "Are you fucking serious!?"

"I wish I weren't."

"Damn, that bastard!" Axel yelled, already getting riled up by Roxas's assumption. "This just pisses me off!"

"But he's not even your problem," Zexion commented for the first time. After taking a long sip of beer from his aluminum can, he turned to look over at a pissed of Axel. "So why do you even care?"

"'Cause he might bust us if he sees us picking up Rox!"

"Oh, is _that_ only why?" Demyx snapped.

"Oh, and for Rox, too." Axel said, rolling his eyes as he said so.

"And you what really pisses me off even more?" Roxas prolonged. "There's this girl that's living with us right now for the next three weeks, and I have to be the one that takes care of her because of stupid 'community service'."

"Oh, is she sexy?" Axel pressed, curious.

"If you like retarded girls, then yes."

"Yeowch," he said, inching away as a response from the answer. "I'll prefer the sane ones, thank you very much."

Flicking his cigarette onto the gravel ground and then stepping on it as he descended from the car's roof, he patted the back of his pants for his keys and then turned around to look at his buds. "Looks like it's time to go, gang."

* * *

**  
-to be continued...  
**

* * *

_First off, I'd like to apologize for the incredibly long update time. I've just recovered from a horrible case of writer's block, and was too uninspired to write a third chapter to this story. However, after sitting down and listening to a few KH songs here and there, I've managed to come up with this 9-paged piece of writing. This chapter was way overdue, and I deeply apologize for the wait._

_Reviews would be appreciated. Thanks._

_**-Shana-san**  
_


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